Inflatable elastic garment and the like



July 18, J. NEULANDER INFLATABLE ELASTIC GARMENT AND THE LIKE Filed June 17. 1932 Patented July 18, 1933 JOSEPH NEULANDER,

PATENT FFEQE OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

XIQFLATABLE ELASTIC GARMNT AND THE LIKE Application led June 17,

`f This invention relates to inflatable, elastic containers, and has for its main object to provide an elastic container' which normally may be kept in a flat condition, but which may be in'llated by air or other gas being blown thereinto in an easy and efficient manner, arid in' such a way that its size will be `greatly enlarged in an inflated condition compared to itsfsize when in a deflated and flat condition.

My invention, houv'evr-rvr, particularly aims toprovide garment members which are at the same time containers of the character described hereinbefore and which may be inflated and so turned into pillows or the like.

A very important object of my invention is to provide bathing caps made of rubber or similar lelastic material showing the characteristics hereinbefore mentioned1 having an inner elastic rubber lining and having:r means whereby the bathing cap may be inllated by air being blown between its outer wall and its lining, said lining finally turning outwardly under the pressure of the air and transforming'thebu'thing' cap into a pillow or' 'cushion shaped inflated container having! approximately double the size which would result from the inflation of a container having the size of the bathing cap, but without itslining.

Other 'object-s 'of this invention will be ap parent as the specification of the same proceeds. y

In' the drawing; y 'Fink` 1v is a perspective View of a bathing cap made''according1r to my invention, being: shown in a deflated, flat condition, adapted to be. worn as a bathing cap, and parts of the same being 'broken Laway to show the inside coi|:-:l'ruction thereof; Fig'. 2 is a ser-.tiomll elevation of the bathing' cap 'shown in Fig. 1, on a somewhat enlarged scale. the section beingtaken on about the broken line Z--Q of 1F ig. 1;

Fig. '3 shows the cap of Fig. 1 in a fully inflated condition; -F is a perspective view of another form of a rubber bathingcap, the approximate size and shape thereof when fully inflated bein;r indicated by the dot land dash lines, part of which is shown as being,Y broken away;

lfig lis-a view of a scarf-like rubber garment on a small scale, also constructed according to my invention, tne approximate shape 1932. Serial N0. 617,798.

and size thereof when fully inflated being .indicated by the dot and dash lines, while Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation of the garnient shown in Fig. 5, the section being taken on the line 6*() thereof.

Referring now to the drawingr more closely, by characters of reference, in. Fig. 1 I show a bathing cap of one of the usual designs and types, made of waterproof and practically airproof resilient material, like rubber, and generally being;Y indicated by the numeral 10. Said cap has an outer wall 11 of thin, light, sheet rubber material, and in my invention it is also provided with a lining 12, closely following; the outlines of the outer wall 11, and heine' iliade of a material of similar' qualities. .For improved artitic effect, the lining may be ol. different color than the outer wall of the. a p, while appropriate designs and ornaments. i3, may be applied on the outer sur face of the cap, as is usual in this art. A suitable seam, 14,'n1ay be provided in which the outer wall and the lining of the cap are secured together by any appropriate means, as by celnenting, etc.

At the portion indicated by the numeral l5, said scam and the adjacent material of the outer wall and the liningjr are. formed into a small rubber tube, adapted to establish con nection between the outside and the space be tween the outer wall and the. lining of my rubber cap, and normally said tube is tightly close-d hy any appropriate means, as by the plug 16.

Normally the cap is in a flat, deflated condition and may be used and worn as any other bathing; cap. as will be obvious from the dri-twine. When, however, it is desired to use said cap a pillow` the plug 16 will be removed and air blown into the space 17, between the outer Wall 11A and the lining)r 12, and as the amount and pressure of the air increases, both the outer wall 11 and the lining lf3, will yield to said pressure and will stretch while the lining 12 will gradually be forced outwardly from inside of the outer wall 11, to the outside thereof, through the opening 18 of the cap, said lining' fina ly turning entirely ruitwardly, indicated in Fig. 3, whereupon both the outer wall 11 and the lining 12 will linally be blown into similar shapes of inflated bodies 11a and 12a, the two being connected by the seam 14. At this phase of the operation, the blowing of the air will be discontinued and the tube 15 again closed, as by the plug 16.

It will be ob-vious that in the manner described, my bathing cap may be turned into a pillow-like inflated body of comparatively large volume and size, by an easy, efficient and quick method.

In its inflated condition the bathing cap may be used as a pillow or cushion to sit on or to rest the users head thereon when lying, 0n the sand of a beach, or the like, or it may be used for floating with it in water,and possibly for many other purposes. l-'V hen it is desired to change said inflated body back into abathing cap, plug 16 will be removed and the air expelled therefrom, whereupon the lining 12 may be returned into its normal place.

' In Fig. 4 I `show another type ofl bathing cap, usually called a sailor cap and generally indicated by the numeral 19, in which the cap itself is of a comparatively large diameter having the opening 20 wlierebyit can be pulled over the head of the wearer. A. lining 2l is providedfor this cap in a similar manner as describedv hereinbefore and the outer wall 22 of the cap and the lining 21 are secured together-in the seam 23. An inflating tube 24 is arranged at an appropriate place in the scan123, normally closed by the plug 25. The operation. of inflation of this cap is. exactly identical to the one described inconnection with the cap of Fig. 1, and when a suitable amount of air is blown into the space between the outer wall 22 and the lining 21, said lining in this case also will automatically beforced outwardly through the opening 20, and the cap-finallywill take up the shape and size shown by the dot and dash lilies, the cap proper being inflated into the body 22a and the lining into the body 21a.

One of my objects is to provide other garments of; lsimilar construction and such a scarf is shown in Fig. 5. Said scarf, will be made of substantially airtight material, preferably of light rubber sheets. The scarf proper is of, the flat, elongated, triangle shape shown, as is usual, but it has the double walls 26a and 266, as shown in the section of Eig. 6, and is open along the side 27. A similar lining 28 may be employed within said scarf closely following theouter walls 26, being also open along the side 27, and being secured-to the outer wall along said side by the two seams 29a and 295. It will be seen that a scarf is produced in this manner, which, in the principles of its construction is similar to the construction of my improved, novel, bathing cap. A small inflating rubber tube may be arranged at an appropriate place, as at 30, to provide communication between the atmosphere and the space between the outer walls 26 and the lining. 28, said tube normally being closed as by a plug 31 and used in case of necessity in the same manner as has been described hereinbefore. Upon blowing air into the space between the outer walls and the lining, said lining will finally turn outwardly and the ultimate shape of the scarf when inflated is indicated by the dot and dash lines 32, the portion 26 resulting from the outer wall and the portion 28', from the lining thereof. The garment member illustrated in Fig. 5 may be used as a scarf around the shoulders of the wearer or it may be formed into a turb'an or head covering for bathing purposes, and of course, it may be inflated and used to rest thereon or to float therewith.

Other garment members may be imagined constructed according to my invention, as well as plain pillows or normally flat containers, to be inated into pillows orfloating bodies may be constructed according to my invention, having an outer similar body, folded as a lining within it being secured to its outer walls along a seam and adapted to be turned outwardly under air lpressure and so double the size and capacity of the ultimate inflated body.

I also want it to be understood that changes and variations may be made in the details of construction and in the combination of parts of my invention, and I desireto reserve my rights to any such changes which are within the spirit of my invention and the scope of the claims appended hereto.

W hat I claim as new is:

1. A garment member of substantially airproof, flexible, sheet material, having avdou` bled outer wall folded upon itself, closed all around except one side thereof, where it is open; a similar doubled lining within said outer wall, having an open portion in exact registering relation to the open portion in said outer wall; means to secure the marginal edges of said outer wall and said innerlining along and around said open portion, so as to provide a completely closed space between said outer wall and said inner lining; a transverse tube formed in the wall of saidmarginal edges communicating with said space and with the outside, respectively, and

a removable plug for said tube.

2. A bathing cap of substantially water and air tight, flexible, elastic sheet material, comprising an outer wall; a lining therein of similar material, said outer wall and said lining being secured to one anotheralong the marginal edges of the opening of the cap; a. transverse tube formed in the wall of Said secured marginal edge, adapted to cause the space between said outer wall and said lining to communicate with the outside, and a removable plug for said tube.

JOSEPH NEULANDER. 

